New year, same old me

I have set broad New Year goals for myself each year I’ve been blogging, with some success!  I know goals are supposed to be specific, attainable, and measurable in order to succeed, but somehow I find broad overarching goals are more attainable and easier for me to remember.  For example, my goal of eating less and moving more is way more attainable than working out three times per week and eating 5 servings of vegetables per day.  My life isn’t that rigid and I’m much more inclined to actually follow through if there is less pressure.

Does that make sense?  I guess what I’m trying to say is, the more specific I make my goals, the less attainable and more stressful they become

In any case, I thought a lot about my goals for this year.  I have the standard big goals like getting a job, moving into a house, etc., but I also feel like I need something more.  Some way to improve my life and to extend myself.  So I came up with a list.  I hope to accomplish some of these this year, but the real goal is to at least start on these before I’m 30.

1. Attend a concert in a new venue with a band I’ve never seen before.
2. Get my thesis published.
3. Create a morning and bedtime routine that reduce stress and can easily be incorporated into my life.
4. Volunteer for an organization working with animals.
5. Reduce meat consumption and maximize vegetable consumption.
6. Keep a sketchbook journal and start creating.
7. Attend a photography class and practice honing my skills.
8. Send letters/cards/notes to the people I love.
9. Join a recreational sports team.
10. Practice cooking more Asian food.

Whew!  That’s a tough list, but I think I should be able to get to most of them over the next three years.  I’ll check back in throughout the year and mark my progress.

Do you have any New Years resolutions?  What goals have you had the most success with in the past?

-Mads

OKMH: Christmas Gifts!

Top Row:  Allison , Beka & Jeanne, Center: Kat & Kirsten, Bottom Row: Mads & Megan.

To polish off 2013, my lovely blogger friends decided to send Christmas packages to each other.  I love our tradition of sending goodies in the mail so much, especially because it feels like we’re not so far away.

This holiday season, Allison sent me a big box of goodies.  I was waiting all year for a box from her because she has been whipping up homemade marshmallows and I’m officially the last person to taste her wonderful mallows!  They did not disappoint…perfect cranberry marshmallows that are gooey, fluffy, sweet, and tart perfection.

The only snap before the mallows were demolished.

Allison must know I spend most of my days running to and from various jobs without a lot of meal time because she got me an insulated lunch box with cute Tupperware for meals on the go!  Little does she know, she’ll be joining the club soon when she starts her graduate program this year!

To fill the lunch box, she also included Happy Hippo hazelnut biscuits (Yum) and chocolate kale.  I’m sorry friends, the chocolate kale horrifies me.  I still haven’t tried it, but I’m hoping to conquer my fears in 2014.  She also included a bottle opener, no doubt to fuel my beer-drinking habits.

If that wasn’t enough, she also sent me a gorgeous turquoise scarf!  It’s beautiful!  I love it so hard.

I have a severe scarf obsession and wore it almost the entire time I was in Minnesota for the holidays.  I can’t wait for more cold weather to wear it again.  Beauty!

Thanks so much for the thoughtful gifts, Allison.  If you haven’t read her blog yet, you should.  She writes about adventures in running, parenting a 5 year old who loves glitter, whipping up fabulous meals for her family, and so much more.

Check out what I sent Kirsten here!

What was your favorite gift this holiday season? 

-Mads

PUMPKIN WEEK: Pumpkin Spice Cake with Maple Frosting

*please excuse the pictures in this post.  I decided to make this cake at night after a few glasses of wine.  

Hello hello,

It’s time for another rendition of theme weeks and this week is brought to you by pumpkin!  (insert pumpkin foofaraw here)  Truth be told, it’s still 80 degrees in SoCal right now, so my mind is not registering “Pumpkin Week” quite yet.  However, in the spirit of team camaradarie, I decided to join the party with a pumpkin spice cake.

I know you’re probably thinking, “Pumpkin spice cake?  Yawn.”  But let me tell you, this cake is a delicate balance of pumpkin, spices, and sweetness that you will want to add to your repertoire of “classic” recipes.

Now, in researching pumpkin spice cake, I found there were not many variations in recipes.  Some called for buttermilk or sour cream to moisten things up, but I felt like the pumpkin would create enough moisture on its own.  Other recipes went crazy on spices, but I wanted to let the pumpkin shine through.

This cake turned out perfect!  The cake was full of flavor and the sweetness of the maple frosting balanced with the spiciness of the cake.  I am definitely making this again for Thanksgiving.

For the cake, you will need:

• 1.5 sticks softened butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2.5 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ginger
• 1/8 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp. allspice
• 1/8 tsp. cloves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl and set aside (flour, baking soda, salt, spices).

The finest of supermarket spices.

Using a mixer, beat together butter and sugars until combined.  Add eggs one at a time and vanilla.  Beat until creamy.

Then add the canned pumpkin until just combined.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture until the dry ingredients are fully incorporated.

Pour batter into greased bundt pan (or use my pal, Comfortably Domestic’s handy baking pan conversion chart).  Bake for approximately 25-30 minutes (check with a toothpick).

For the frosting, you will need:

• 1/2 stick butter
• 1 (8 oz.) block cream cheese
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 4 Tbsp. maple syrup (I used the real maple syrup.  You might want to taste as you go if you are using the imitation stuff because it’s a little stronger.)
• 3-4 cups powdered sugar

Wait until the cake has cooled completely.

Beat butter, cream cheese, vanilla, and syrup together until creamy.

Add powdered sugar one cup at a time until it is as sweet as you would like.  I think I stopped at 3.5 cups, but I was eye-balling it.  I should stop doing that when I’m developing a recipe, but whatever.

Spread the frosting over the entire cake until it’s as perfect or messy as you like.  Mine was rather messy, as you can see.

-Mads

Please check out the other wonderful recipes for Pumpkin Week!

Monday:

Kirsten @ Comfortably Domestic – Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
Beka @ Kvetchin’ Kitchen – Pumpkin Streusel Bread

Tuesday:
Carrie @ Bakeaholic Mama – Pumpkin Pie Macarons
Jeanne @ Inside NanaBread’s Head – Hazelnut Pumpkin Waffles with Cinnamon Honey Butter

Wednesday:
Megan @ Country Cleaver – Mini No-Bake Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecakes with Crumble Topping
Allison @ Decadent Philistines – Pumpkin Marshmallows & Pumpkin Spice Syrup
Shanna @ Pineapple & Coconut – Creamy Maple Bacon Pumpkin Risotto

Thursday:
Anne @ From My Sweet Heart – Pumpkin Doughnuts with Cream Cheese Icing & Candied Pepitas
Kat @ Tenaciously Yours – Marbled Pumpkin Gingersnap Tart

Friday:
Madeline @ Munching in the Mitten – Savory Pumpkin Tart
Lauren @ Climbing Grier Mountain – Pumpkin Mousse with Candied Squash
Kirsten @ Comfortably Domestic – Pumpkin Kiss Cookies

Saturday:
Beka @ Kvetchin’ Kitchen – Pumpkin Scones
Monica @ The Grommom – Pumpkin Ice Cream

Pug Update

Hello internet,

I realize it’s been awhile since I’ve posted about Josie, so here’s an update for you.

St. Pugtrick’s Day with our little family.

She swallowed a palm tree seed (a big one), which got stuck in her stomach and basically blocked her up.  She had to have an emergency surgery, but the recovery went really well.  Around the same time, she was stung by a bee and went into anaphylactic shock.  She passed out on the living room floor and her breathing got very shallow.  Luckily, we drove to the vet at the speed of sound and she bounced back fairly quickly.

Needless to say, we have had some major health scares with Josie in 2013 and I’m so thankful she’s still with us.  I have to admit she has benefited greatly from “mommy guilt” these past few months.  She’s been getting extra treats, extra love, extra playtime…you name it!

Josie (left) and Bailey (right) hanging out on the slide.

For St. Patrick’s Day, we took her and her best pug pal, Bailey, to a pug meetup event at a local doggy daycare.

They had toys, jungle gym equipment, and even a little water feature for the pups to swim in!

Josie was not sure about the swimming pool.

If you don’t know this already, pugs are one of the goofiest breeds of dogs out there.  They love to make people laugh, they look ridiculous, and they roll around snorting all day long.  To see a group of 20 pugs roaming around a jungle gym was one of the most glorious things of my life.

Most of the pugs had some sort of green spirit for St. Patrick’s Day, which added to the hilarity.

I think this lab had his fill of pugs:

Passed out pooch

We had a wonderful time playing with the pugs, but the best part was how zonked Josie was afterward.

Passed out pooch in the car.

What’s your favorite breed of dog?  How do your pets benefit from guilt?  Extra treats?  Sleeping on the bed?

-Mads

White Chocolate Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream Frosting: Sweets for Your Sweetiepie Week!

Hello everyone!

Welcome to another themed week of goodies: Sweets for Your Sweetiepie Week!!!

Our lovely team of rock star bloggers have put their heads together to ensure that you have a recipe to make for your loved ones this Valentines Day!

If you’ve been tuning in for a while, you know that I get amped up over any holiday and V-Day is no exception. I love an excuse to give out hugs, tell people I care about them, and most importantly to binge on chocolate and wine. This year I am in class all night, so my celebration will have to wait until the weekend. Luckily, my class is Human Sexuality, which is the most exciting class you could have on Valentines Day. 😉 I’m hoping we talk about something upbeat like fetishes or swinger parties, and not erectile dysfunction or supernumerary nipples.  Ok wait, both of those topics are great too.  I guess I’m super excited for class!  Maybe I’ll become a sex therapist?!

Anyway, I made these treats so we could enjoy ourselves all week long!

Jonathan is not a huge dessert fan, usually because he claims they are too “sweet”. But his favorite sweet to indulge in is white chocolate. We were recently at a party with a make-your-own-cupcake bar (GENIUS) and I spotted Jonathan helping himself to a few different varieties, which inspired these White Chocolate Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream Frosting.

Can you think of a better combo than white chocolate and raspberry? I cannot.

For the cupcakes you will need:

• 1 stick butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 4 oz. white chocolate bar
• 8 oz. white chocolate chips (a smidge more than 1/2 bag)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease a cupcake pan or use these adorable cupcake wrappers for V-day!

Cream together butter and sugar.  Add the vanilla and eggs until smooth.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a saucepan over low heat, melt the 4 oz. white chocolate bar and milk.  White chocolate has a funny way of melting, which is to say it doesn’t melt well.  It gets kind of runny and chunky, but pay that no attention.

Ghirardelli FTW!

Slowly combine the flour mixture with the butter and sugar mixture until smooth.  Try not to whip the crap out of your batter because it will harden your cupcakes.  Nobody wants a cement cupcake.  Be GENTLE!

Slowly add the melted chocolate mixture to the batter until creamy.  Then add your 8 oz. of chocolate chips.

The extra white chocolate chips tossed in at the end really give this recipe an extra oompf of creamy white chocolate flavor!

Double white chocolate intensity

Pour the batter into the greased cupcake pan.

Bake at 375 degrees for 16-18 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

Let the cupcakes cool completely before moving to the frosting stage.

For the frosting you will need:

• 1 1/2 stick butter
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 4 Tbsp heavy whipping cream
• pinch of salt
• 3 Tbsp raspberry jam

Whip together butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, whipping cream, and pinch of salt until it looks like frosting (about 30 seconds on high).

Then add the raspberry jam and mix it into the frosting with a rubber scraper.  If you are lucky, your friend Jeanne from Inside NanaBread’s Head will send you a giant jar of delicious homemade raspberry, cranberry, and cherry jam for you to use in this recipe. If you aren’t lucky, you will walk with your head hung in shame to the grocery store to get sub par jam.

Thank you, Jeanne!

If raspberries are in season, it might be fun to make a raspberry compote to use in the frosting instead of jarred jam. I didn’t do this because raspberries were $4 when I created this recipe.

Spread the frosting evenly over the cupcakes and top with fresh raspberries or sprinkles.  These cupcakes were divine and got the stamp of approval from the hubby and my coworkers!  Num!

White Chocolate Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream Frosting

What are you making for Valentine’s Day this year?  What are your plans this holiday?

-Mads

Please check out the rest of the sweets on other blogs throughout the week! These bloggers are fearless bakers and make me drool on a daily basis. I hope you find something you want to make for your sweetheart!

Sunday:

• Inside NanaBread’s Head–Retro Raspberry Divinity (& GIVEAWAY)
• Comfortably Domestic–Red Velvet Vanilla Marble Cupcakes with Milk Chocolate Buttercream

Monday:

• Kvetchin’ Kitchen–Chocolate-Dipped Peanut Butter Pudding Cookies
• The Hill Country Cook–Mini Meringue Strawberry Pie

Tuesday:

• Munching in the Mitten–Chocolate Pistachio Biscotti
• Bakeaholic Mama–Samoa Crack Dip

Wednesday:

• Climbing Grier Mountain–Avocado Peppermint Chocolate Mousse
• Country Cleaver–Cherry Garcia Chocolate Bark

Thursday:

• My post above–White Chocolate Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream Frosting
• Tenaciously Yours–S’more on a Stick

Friday:

• Decadent Philistines Save the World–Lemon Marshmallows
• Comfortably Domestic–Mini Chocolate Mousse Pies

Saturday:

• From My Sweet Heart–Berry Smoothie Ice Cream